Persona 3: Apocalypse
by Changling96
Summary: At the dawn of the Dark Hour, Kouetsu Kirijo got more than he bargained for; an eternal Dark Hour across the world. All humans awoke, and the world dissolved into chaos. P3 AU.
1. AI CI: Old Town, Old Foes

Teaser:

It's been 10 years since the Fall, and Hamuko Shirogane is heading right back to the epicenter. Trained by her grandfather to combat the Shadows that now wander the globe, Hamuko arrives in what's left of Iwatodai to find a small group of Kirijo-affiliated teenagers in need of help. But the Shadows are slowly becoming a lesser evil; as multiple survivors are disappearing. And who is The Raven?

* * *

**A/N: (9/15/15) Hello readers, I'm happy to announce that P3: Apocalypse now has an accompanying soundtrack. Please note that this is not an OST, but rather a playlist on youtube of pre-existing OST's. If you wish to listen to the playlist, you can either check my FF profile and look under the section I have on this fic or you can look up "Persona 3: Apocalypse Act I Soundtrack" on youtube manually.**

**Now, as for how this will work in the fic itself, while reading you will find text such as: **(Track 1) **(as seen directly below). This correlates to the 1st track in the playlist, in this case ****Killing Floor 2 - Menu Music [Extended]****. Following, if **(Track 6)** is shown, it'll correlate to the 6th track in the playlist**. **Please note that **(end music) **and **(pause track) **both mean to pause the music, just that the latter implies that the track will resume at some point soon****.**

**I hope you enjoy the addition to this fic if you so choose to do so.**

* * *

Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned

Chapter 1: Old Town, Old Foes

* * *

(Track 1)

…

Walking…

…

…

It wasn't like she'd never gone hiking before; far from it. She'd gone on her grandfather's hellish idea of a 'hike' an innumerable amount of times growing up. She could go for miles without an issue but…

It was almost impossible to see very far due to the minimal amount of light the emergency lights – they must have been some kind of chemical lighting to work without power – gave off so she'd lost track of how many miles she'd been walking. Or how many pools of blood she'd avoided. Or how many Shadows she'd either snuck around or killed on the way. There weren't many of them in the train tunnel she was using to travel, but Shadows were everywhere now.

And so here she was, Hamuko Shirogane, traveling alone to where the literal shit-storm began; what was left of Tatsumi Port Island.

But first...

…

More walking…

…

* * *

Hamuko didn't know how long it was before she caught sight of the Iwatodai station – walking in an underground train tunnel tended to prevent seeing day/night cycles – but she had to keep herself from just running the rest of the way. Keeping her slow pace, Hamuko silently made her way up to the platform; noting the small amount of green moonlight streaming in through several holes in the ceiling. Seeing nothing – Shadow or human – around, she pulled herself off the tracks and onto the platform. Making her way over to the turnstiles, Hamuko easily jumped the security measures before entering the main lobby of the run-down train station.

She immediately ducked around a corner after seeing a black blob moving in her peripheral vision. Peeking around the corner with only one eye, Hamuko noticed a Cowardly Maya crawling on the ground in front of the stairs leaving the station.

A quick jog of her memory reminded Hamuko that this Shadow had a weakness to fire…

_But summoning here would probably attract unwanted attention._

… and a nasty tendency to 'scream' for 'help' from other larger Shadows.

Examining the destroyed lobby revealed a lack of any cover necessary to sneak up on the Shadow as all the wooden benches had long since been destroyed. Hamuko rested her head against the cold tile wall next to her. She really only had her naginatta strapped to her back as a weapon and didn't have any noise makers.

_Though, they'd just attract attention anyways. I could try throwing my naginatta in hopes of destroying the mask, or rush it with the same intentions._

After mulling it over, Hamuko sighed as she realized there was no way she could sneak up on the Shadow without risking an all-out firefight in the lobby.

She wasn't too far into her thoughts to miss the sound of the Maya being crushed, and a very faint "Go to hell". Peeking around the corner, Hamuko spotted a large teenager wearing a maroon coat and beanie lifting a large battle axe off the Shadow's evaporating corpse.

Large, muscular teen with messy brown hair. Check.

Scowl. Check.

Pistol-like Evoker in hand. Check.

Hamuko smiled. She'd found her contact.

The teen had slowly started walking toward the turnstiles – how in the world he did so without making much noise was beyond her – when Hamuko decided to show herself.

"Lovely weather tonight. Iwatodai hasn't changed at all" Hamuko giggled slightly at the stunned teen, kicking a puddle of blood with the tip of her boot, "Pools of blood and all"

The teen managed to compose himself at the sudden appearance of a brunette with red eyes wearing a dark coat with black jeans and military-style steel-tipped boots, "_You're _the contact?"

"Don't sound so disappointed to see me"

The teen scoffed at her before turning around and quickly walking to the stairs, "Let's go; I don't have time for this shit"

Hamuko easily caught up, "My my, so aggressive. You gonna buy me dinner first?"

"No" The teen made it to the top of the stairs first and started looking up and down the abandoned streets. The green moon hung low in the sky, its lunar phase currently at half throwing a decent amount of illumination onto the destroyed and abandoned streets.

"Can I get your name at least?"

"No"

Hamuko couldn't resist when she ran in front of the teen and pouted, "Aww… Why not?"

"Because we're in the middle of a fucking war-zone. So drop the damn cutesy act and keep a look out for Shadows"

The two began walking down an alleyway towards where Hamuko guessed they'd be staying. The walked in silence briefly before Hamuko grinned.

"Does that mean I can act 'cutesy' when were not in the middle of a war-zone?"

"No-"

The teen stopped mid-sentence as a small beeping sound went off in his ear, "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Hamuko instinctively slid the rut sack she'd been carrying over her naginatta off before unstrapping the weapon from her back. She'd learned over the years that more often than not, any news was bad news. Placing the pole arm onto the ground let her throw the bag back onto her back before picking her weapon back up.

"Right, we'll be there" The teen hefted his axe onto his shoulder before turning back to Hamuko, "Let's go", and then taking off; running down the alleys.

(Track 5)

"What're we looking at here?" Hamuko was again easily keeping up with the taller teen.

"Multiple Shadows, different variants, civilians in the area"

Hamuko couldn't hide the shock from her face, "You have civilians?"

"Anyone without a Persona is a civilian to us, fighting prowess be damned. Well, all but one"

Hamuko didn't have time to question that, as the alley they were running down opened up to a street crawling with Shadows. Two teenagers – one red-headed fencer and one silver-haired boxer – were fighting in sync defending a small road that led to where she guessed the civilians were hiding from a small horde of Shadows. Outside the ruins of what looked to be an old student dormitory, a brunette archer and an eye-patch wearing man with a handgun were attempting to keep a massive stone golem from flanking them. The teen next to Hamuko pulled his Evoker from its holster and placed it against his head.

"Come on, Castor. Heat Wave!"

A massive metal horse with a man riding it burst from the teen's consciousness, flattening half of the Shadows and outright killing the weaker ones. He threw himself into the fray; swinging his axe through several Shadows in one go. Snapping back to attention, Hamuko rushed to the blind spot of the golem as it was bringing its sword down on the archer.

"Eurydice!" Hamuko felt the her Persona fly out of its summoning circle beside her before it stopped in front of the golem and caught its sword with its golden lyre. Closing the final bit of distance, Hamuko jumped up, cutting through the golem's outstretched sword arm before spinning mid-air to cut through the mask. She landed with a roll as the Shadow, and her Persona, dissolved into the air.

"What the-?" The archer was apparently not expecting Hamuko to kill the golem as fast as she did. Giving her a grin as she got back to her feet, "Stasis Giant, weak to slash" was her brief response as looked down the street at another small horde that was moving to take the golem's place.

Noting the amount of fire-weak shadows, Hamuko's grin widened as she switched Personae to an old favorite of hers, "Pale Rider!"

A massive blue glyph formed in the air next to Hamuko as the fourth horseman of the apocalypse walked out of it, "Maragidyne!"

The street was engulfed in flames, annihilating most of the Shadows while the others died slowly afterwards from the sheer heat of the blast. Hamuko's Persona stood amongst the carnage before dissolving back into its summoning glyph beside her. Noting that all the Shadows were gone, she turned back to the archer and the gunman who were both sizing her up. Looking down the street to where the other three teenagers were showed a street clear of Shadows – if just showing some of the tell-tale signs of a recent battle – and the three walking back towards them. The boxer and the axe-user were arguing over something, but the smiles on all three of their faces told Hamuko that nothing was wrong.

(end music)

"Excellent work" The man with the eye patch spoke up when the three teens arrived, "That wasn't the largest group of Shadows we've fought, but you all did well"

"Thank you, father" The red-head was the first to speak before she turned to Hamuko, "And I take it that you're the 'help' that we were told would be coming?"

"She's got a Persona" The archer was talking now, "but how'd you change yours?"

The banter between the two teens stopped and everyone stared at Hamuko, who managed to just smile back at them all.

The man spoke again, "Everyone, I'd like to introduce to you Hamuko Shirogane. She's the granddaughter of an old friend of mine, and a Wild Card; a multiple-Persona Summoner"

…

…

"…Well 'hello' to you all too"

* * *

(Track 7)

The night was nowhere near done, but it seemed that he'd already cleared out this area of Shadows. Flicking his blade clean of ichor and sheathing it with no fanfare, he left the ruins of what he could guess was once a large mall.

Walking back outside, he wandered aimlessly and came to a stop in front of a bridge. Or rather, what once was a bridge; the span had long since been destroyed leaving only a few feet on either side before falling into the blood-like water below. Only one of the two main cables connected the two towers while the other had been ripped apart in the explosion so long ago.

He could still remember the accident all 10 years ago; an ordinary car ride across an ordinary bridge.

A not-so ordinary explosion. His seat belt failing resulting in being ejected out the back window. Landing in the middle of the span only to watch the vehicle catch fire and explode. The green moon, the pools of blood, and one larger explosion that destroyed the bridge and ripped the suspended cables to bits.

Then failing; hitting the water along with the burnt out husks of several other vehicles.

Then nothing; darkness.

…

Then… a second chance.

Losing part of your humanity in exchange for survival wasn't too bad of an offer when the world had already gone to hell.

(end music)

Dully noting that the sounds of battle had stopped coming from Iwatodai proper, the sound of several Shadows dragging themselves towards him recaptured his attention. Drawing his blade once more, he remembered that the gangs in the slums were getting rest-less again.

Confronting the two heads would take up most of tomorrow. But for now, slaughter.


	2. AI CII: We Build Our Homes on Hellbrick

**Wow, this story has been sitting around collecting dust for about four months now...**

**Sorry,** **ademolix for the wait, considering you're currently the sole support of this fic.**

**Anyways, on to the chapter.**

* * *

Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned

Chapter 2: We Build Our Homes on Hell-brick

* * *

...

"… What the hell do you mean by a 'Wild Card'?"

"We'll all talk more about this in the morning" The main wearing an eye-patch cut off the battle-axe wielding teen before he could ask another question, "It's a bit too late for this talk".

Hamuko, and the other teens, couldn't agree fast enough.

"Just follow us, okay?" The archer spoke up and Hamuko simply nodded in response. The boxer and the fencer remained outside and walked back down that small road leading to the rest of the survivors.

(Track 9)

The remaining group entered the remains of the dormitory and, after walking around several felled pillars and collapsed walls, stopped at what little was left of the building's original staircase. The man walked behind the stairs and pulled up a metal hatch, revealing a staircase leading further underground. While they weren't spiral, Hamuko couldn't help but note how simple it would be for a single ranged person to stand at the bottom of the stairs and pick off intruders as they slowly shuffled down in a single-file line. More emergency chemical lights replaced the green moonlight as their light source as they arrived at yet another heavy metal door. The beanie-wearing teen easily pushed the door open and held it for the group to get through.

Hamuko couldn't help but giggle as she passed the glaring teen, "I was right, you are quite the gentleman".

The teen scowled harder and responded with a simple 'tch' before closing it behind the brunette.

"Well," The archer spoke up again, "it's not much, but its home" turning to face Hamuko with a smile she quickly returned.

Hamuko, however, thought they were pretty well off, all things considered. The room they entered opened up to a relatively large size, the nearest part being occupied by a simple desk with what looked like a complex radio system that came down from the ceiling, wires running overhead and back out the door from which they came. Despite it being relatively dark considering the few light sources, it wasn't bad compared to some of the places she'd be forced to slept in; after all, this one was safe. Several cases, some containing weapons, lay in organized chaos from what Hamuko suspected was their reaction to the night's attack. The remainder of the room was sectioned off by several hospital-style curtains.

The eye-patch wearing man placed his pistol back into its case on the desk before turning back to Hamuko, "I hope you don't mind, but you'll need to double up with Yukari tonight. We haven't had a chance to find more bedding with all the Shadow attacks happening lately. Akihiko and Mitsuru agreed to take the first patrol; though don't worry about relieving them, we'll go over that tomorrow"

"Not a problem" Hamuko smiled again before turning to the archer with a small grin, "Well, missy, where are we shacking up tonight?"

Yukari turned quickly but Hamuko caught the splash of red on her cheeks before she was led to one curtained off area. Entering it, the brunette looked over the small space. A simple futon was folded up against a wall and aside from a few small photos and what looked to be an envelope, the area was bare.

Hamuko slid her rut sack off her back and placed it on the floor along with her naginata; her sore shoulders finally finding relief from the burden. Yukari followed suit, relieving herself of her bow and quiver, retiring them to the floor. Hamuko noted that Yukari was wearing a light Kevlar vest underneath a thin jacket. The archer also took off a pair of military-style boots not unlike Hamuko's own. They'd both stripped down into tank tops and jeans before Yukari unfolded the futon.

"I'm surprised you've got something like this" Hamuko couldn't help but question when Yukari grabbed a blanket from under the futon.

"I used to live in this area" Yukari responded, finishing setting up the futon before giving her full attention to the brunette, "After the first wave of Shadows left, me and my mom made it back to what was left of my house. We survived there for a while before Mitsuru found us on a patrol. We've been here ever since".

"Where's your mom?" Hamuko nearly slapped herself for how blunt she was being.

"She's alive" Yukari quickly responded, "She stays with rest of the civilians"

"Gottcha" A small silence filled the air, "Soo… how are we doing this? We should be able to share, but it's going to be a bit tight".

Sleeping on the floor was out; the concrete bunker they were in offered no comfort to that option.

"Uh…"

Hamuko sighed as Yukari didn't move, "Oh, come on".

The brunette undid the covers before she pulled the archer down with her. Yukari let out a quick squeak before she found herself pressed against Hamuko. The two shifted in place, finding some semblance of comfort before the exhaustion of the night's events finally caught up with them.

* * *

22 Days until the Next Full Moon

* * *

(Track 2)

The following morning found Hamuko and Yukari in a tangle of limbs, ending with Hamuko falling out of the futon completely and onto her face.

"Ow…" Hamuko couldn't help herself as she rubbed her sore chin. They'd gotten dressed and were walking down that road they'd protected the previous night. She naturally strapped her pole arm to her back, rather happy that Yukari brought her bow and quiver as well.

The sky stretched out above them in a corrupt-like red haze, ominously shifting slightly against the black sun that cast plenty of light upon the ruins of Iwatodai, but didn't provide much heat to its survivors.

The sound of chatter growing in the distance broke the brunette out of her musings and Hamuko almost gasped in surprise at what she saw when the road opened up.

There were people. People! People walking around. People laughing! Children were running around and playing under the supervision of a few women. Several people were checking over a few barricades set up to block off one street, another few carrying material to repair one on the opposite side of the complex they'd created.

"Wow…" Hamuko couldn't keep the wide smile off her face.

"Pretty cool isn't it?" Yukari turned around and smiled back at her, "It's not what it was in the past, but welcome to Iwatodai".

"Yukari-chan!" The two turned to where a shorter, teal-haired girl was running up to them, "Yukari-chan, are you okay? We could hear the fighting going on last night"

Yukari laughed slightly as the girl checked over her for injuries, "I'm fine, Fuuka-chan. Though that's partially thanks to this crazy woman here"

Hamuko grinned as Fuuka realized she was there, "Hamuko Shirogane, nice to meet you".

"Ah-h" Fuuka sputtered slightly, "I-I'm Fuuka Yamagishi…"

"Alright" Yukari broke the introductions up, "let's continue this over in the mess hall. I'm starving right now".

After a short walk to one of the more whole buildings around, the three girls entered a large room with several other people walking around and eating. Fuuka and Hamuko sat down at an empty table as Yukari grabbed three trays of their modest breakfast: a small amount of rice and some canned beans.

Hamuko greedily dug into her meal, drawing strange looks from people other than Fuuka and Yukari.

"Uh-h" Fuuka was the first to speak back up, "Is the food really that good?"

Hamuko paused and realized that she'd nearly finished her meal al-ready. Putting her fork back down, she responded, "Totally. I spent the last week living off of granola and jerky while I hiked here. Compared to that, a hot meal of any kind is great!"

As Hamuko went back to her meal, Yukari noticed a few of the others in the dining hall stop mid-conversation. They whispered among themselves before one of them got up and left the building.

Yukari just let out a sigh that attracted Hamuko's attention as she finished her meal, "It's nothing. I hope you know, though, that you're going to get a good bit of attention for being an outsider, Hamuko-san".

"That's right" Fuuka turned to Hamuko, "H-How's it like _out there_?"

(end music)

The brunette noted the small amount of fear in Fuuka's voice. It was understandable; humans without Personae were pretty vulnerable to Shadow attacks. Hamuko thought over her response before speaking, "I won't lie; it's not easy out there. There's plenty of Shadows so I took the old underground train tunnels to avoid most of them. I can take them on pretty easily, but if you get surrounded you're done for; regardless of who you are".

At that point, all conversation in the mess hall stopped. Hamuko grabbed her tray and walked it up to where a drop-off pile was and placed her tray on the top. Turning around, the brunette found herself facing down three other teenage girls.

"May I help you three?" She didn't like the looks the three were giving her, only what little common curtesy she had left that kept Hamuko from pulling her naginata from her back and putting it between them.

(Track 2)

"The hell is going on out here?" The beanie-wearing teen stepped out from a door to where Hamuko guessed the kitchen was, "Meals are done being served for now, so get the hell out and get to work you lazy asses".

The majority of the occupants fled the room under the teen's deep scowl; Hamuko, Yukari, and Fuuka remaining.

"You three… You all deaf or something? Get out; I need to start cleaning up"

"Ah, sorry Shinjiro" Yukari walked up to the teen, "Me and Hamuko-san are taking today's patrol; we'll get out of your hair now"

Yukari grabbed the brunette and dragged her out of the mess hall, Fuuka following behind them.

"I'm going now Yukari-chan" Fuuka bowed slightly, "Stay safe, okay?"

Yukari smiled, "We'll be fine, thanks though"

The teal-haired girl walked away as the archer turned her attention back to Hamuko, who was standing in place with a silly smile on her face.

"Hello?" Yukari waved her hand in front of the brunette's face until she reacted, "Thinking hard there?"

Hamuko waved off the concern, grin getting larger, "Naw, I just didn't know his name was Shinjiro"

* * *

(Track 1)

The designated alleyway was predictably empty; news spread fast of whenever one of these meetings were being held and any neutral parties were sure to keep themselves well clear of the area.

Under the quickly darkening red sky, a single dark-hooded figure sat twirling an old and well-worn machete around his palm. They were either lost, or playing a dangerous game by attempting to skip out on his summons. Either way, they were treading on worn patience and it was only the slaughter of several Shadows earlier that day keeping him from reminding the gangs why he had as much pull as he did.

Several footsteps in the distance finally made the dark figure sheath his machete. Moments later, several figures appeared at the head of the alley being led by two men standing in the front. In any other situation, the two groups of men would have gone for each-others necks with teeth barred. But this wasn't any other situation.

The alley was a dead end, as per norm, and the arriving men blocked the one exit of it. He could help but smile at that the thought that the situation would normally be in their advantage.

"What do you want?" One of the leaders finally spoke up, managing to keep an air of control while speaking.

"You've all been busy lately," His voice was low and quiet, thinly veiled threats held in every breath, "Is there a reason why I wasn't informed of what is happening?"

The men all visibly paused at his comment, recovering quickly enough to appear professional but not quickly enough to escape his notice.

"Yes we have" The other leader responded, "I can't speak for _them_, but me and my boys have been shifting through inventory, making sure we've got enough and when we'll need to start scavenging again".

The figure nodded, the leader's claims matched his observations.

(Track 3)

The first leader took a bit longer to make his statement, "We were checking out barricades, seeing how they're holding, you know? We had a few bad spots that we needed to get some plywood for but other than that they're holding fine"

The figure nodded again, the leader's claims mostly matched his observations. Except for one part, "Do I need to remind anyone about the Rules in place?" The men all froze at that comment, "Iwatodai is _off-limits_ to _anyone_ from either of your groups, got it? You all can scavenge Port Island to your hearts content, but I do not need another _incident _occurring because someone wandered too far"

"Am. I. Clear?" The veil on the threats was gone now, the lone figure forcing each word out. When all the men nodded, he turned around, "This meeting is over".

(end music)

When the men looked back down the alley, the lone figure was gone.


	3. AI CIII: Whispers from Sunlight Shadows

**A/N: First and foremost, I'd like to thank Stofen for his support of this work, along with anyone that might be reading this. Its a bit of a pet project for me, and while it might take a while for the next update, I'm definitely enjoying writing this one.**

**Anyways, on-wards with the chapter.**

* * *

Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned

Chapter 3: Whispers from Sunlit Shadows

* * *

(Track 2)

"So who's the 'Fuuka-san' we met earlier?"

They were almost done with the day's patrol, finishing a final sweep along the outskirts of the opposite end from where their underground bunker was located when Hamuko finally spoke up. Yukari, to her credit, didn't look at the brunette as she responded, "You mean Fuuka-chan? Well, I've personally known her for a while now. We used to play together when we were younger; her parents were engineers at the lab my dad used to work at. Back before all _this_," Yukari vaguely gestured to one of the many destroyed buildings bordering their settlement, "happened".

"I see" Hamuko quietly responded; talking about before this hell began wasn't something people did often.

Yukari quickly picked up on Hamuko's somber tone of voice, "They're not dead, you know. They actually helped create most of the original barricades from what I've heard. Fuuka-chan helps them out from time to time if she isn't needed elsewhere"

(Track 12)

Before Hamuko could respond, a man ran up to the two frantically.

"Mr. Ono?" Yukari responded and Hamuko tensed up immediately, "What's wrong? Something happen?"

"Thank Oda I found you Yukari-kun!" The man paused again to gather another breath, "We've got a problem: one of the kids walked out!"

"The hell do you mean 'walked out'?" Hamuko instantly bristled at the claim; something clearly wasn't adding up here.

"Forget that!" Yukari grabbed back control, "Where did he go?"

Mr. Ono started running again before he responded, "The Eastern barricade!"

The two brunettes easily kept pace with the taller man as they ran a block and a half to where the make-shift barricade stood blocking off what was once a major roadway. Several people stood nearby, one of them peaking over it as they arrived.

"Can you still see him?" Mr. Ono approached the man on lookout and questioned him.

The lookout turned to face the new arrivals, "He just turned right on Main Street. I think he's heading for the waterfront".

"Alright, someone needs to go and tell the rest of our squad. I'll go and make sure no one else has run off. Hamuko-san I need you t-" Yukari started ordering a few bystanders around before being cut off by Hamuko brushing by her. Before she could be questioned, Hamuko reached the barricade and vaulted it, easily landing on the other side.

"Hamuko-san!" Yukari ran up to a small section that was raised off the ground, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"We're going to lose him if we wait any longer. I'm going after him, so just cover me!" Hamuko quickly replied before she sprinted down the destroyed streets. Main Street was only a few blocks away and the brunette easily covered the distance. Turning around the right corner, she spotted the teenager slowly walking towards the waterfront.

Hamuko pumped herself down the last block to the guy; it might have still been daytime, but that didn't mean that certain kinds of Shadows weren't lurking around. She closed the remaining distance and clamped a hand hard down on his shoulder, forcibly turning him towards her.

(end music)

The first thing Hamuko noticed was how dilated the teen's eyes were; despite the close distance they still didn't look like they were focusing on her. The second thing Hamuko noticed was that the teen was muttering softly, almost to himself rather than to her.

"What was that?" Hamuko quickly asked, shaking the teen to try to get a response out of him.

"I-" The teen started, "I can hear him… calling to me"

"What?" Hamuko felt her stomach drop further.

"He's calling… for me…" The teen brushed the brunette's hand off his shoulder and continued to walk down the street, "Wait for me… Morpheus…"

Hamuko gritted her teeth as she followed the teen and prepared to punch him back to his senses when a rustling drew her attention to an old alleyway. Slowly rolling its way out of the alleyways was a garbage can lid; one that had more than a few claw marks and a small chunk of it that looked like it was torn out.

(Track 4)

A thinly veiled growl snapped the brunette back into focus and she rushed the teen. Giving no time for the oblivious teen to react, Hamuko grabbed him around the waist and threw him over her left shoulder.

Sprinting back to the barricaded street, she couldn't help but noticed the way that the shadows seemed to get longer without the help of the coming dusk. As she turned the corner to the last stretch, Hamuko nearly gasped when she felt _something _brush against her consciousness.

Her Grandfather had informed her that the Shadows had some basis in the human psyche, but he'd warned her that only unusually powerful Shadows would ever attempt to enter her consciousness.

Hamuko couldn't help the wedge of fear that lodged itself in her head as she twisted to look behind herself. There weren't any Shadows in sight, but that only meant that this one was able to hide itself from her.

She was three blocks away when she noticed that there was movement at the top of the barricade, various people running back and forth before Yukari appeared and pointed Hamuko out.

She was two blocks away when Yukari's eye's visibly widened and she pointed somewhere behind Hamuko. Hamuko pushed her slightly aching legs harder to get back to the barricade.

She was one block away when Yukari screamed out to her. Hamuko looked up at the archer, only to hear a small movement of air before she was lifted off the ground. The brunette let go of the teen and he felt to the ground in an indignant heap. She struggled and tried to twist to see what had grabbed her when a voice reached her.

"Hamuko-san! Move out of the way!" Yukari shouted out to her, her bow drawn and ready to fire.

Hamuko quickly complied and moved as much as she could in her suspension to give the archer a clean shot. Yukari released the bolt and Hamuko felt it fly by her before it impaled itself into its target.

The Shadow let out a loud shriek as the bolt pierced it. Hamuko gripped it and pulled herself up to see what it was. The Shadow eerily resembled an eagle, save for the large mask covering its face. The Venus Eagle struggled to keep flying before it sharply careened to the side. Hamuko braced herself as they slammed into the window of a mostly destroyed high-rise building. Her rut sack's straps snapped upon impact and Hamuko was thrown into the floor as she and the Shadow finally separated.

The brunette rolled back to her feet and faced the wounded Shadow as it struggled to get back up. It had her rut sack still within its talons and Hamuko realized that that was how the Eagle grabbed her in the first place. Pulling her naginata off her back, she cautiously approached the Shadow. Before she could finish it, another screech grabbed her attention as a second Venus Eagle flew in through the opening they'd made.

(Track 6)

Hamuko barely got her guard up before it slammed into her, sending her flying backwards into a door and demolishing it. She stumbled to her feet as the Shadow exploded the wall next to her with a wind attack; the Eagle almost casually flying through the debris up to her. Noticing how small the current room was, Hamuko did the sensible thing: she ran.

Naginata in her right, the brunette turned and broke down the door behind her with her left shoulder. The Shadow let loose another screech as it probably took off behind her; Hamuko didn't bother to look behind herself to check if it was actually.

Sprinting down the darkened corridor, Hamuko could feel her heart hammering away in her chest as cold adrenaline flooded her veins. She needed to get to a large enough area that she could use her naginata effectively without fear of breaking it mid-swing on a wall. The hallway she was travelling veered off to the left and Hamuko continued to follow it. If she could make it to the atrium this building possibly still had, she'd have enough room to maneuver herself around effectively enough that she'd have a shot at taking out the Shadow still hunting her down.

Conversely, if she doubled-back now she'd be able to end this a lot faster. There was only one extremely wounded Eagle between her and what was easily an entire army's level of firepower. But she didn't know how many more Eagles were lurking around; the one hunting her at the moment was already giving her more than she could handle at the moment.

Hamuko flew sideways, the door to her right gave way easily as her body collided into it. The brunette rolled end over end until her momentum crawled to a stop.

She was stunned. Her muscles locked up and she couldn't move. The Venus Eagle had returned. Hamuko tightened her grip on her naginata, only to realize she must have dropped it back in the hallway.

It had flanked around the entire building, broken down the door on her left, and hit her right in her blind spot. Hamuko winced as she shifted: at best the Shadow just cracked a single rib. The Eagle loomed over her after it landed on top of the destroyed doorway.

Hamuko crawled backwards and further into the decrepit apartment.

The black sun fully set below the horizon and cut off any light source until the moon would take its place. The little light entering the apartment vanished and Hamuko rapidly blinked her eyes in an attempt to gather what minuscule amounts of light were left in the air. Gripping her side tightly, the brunette quietly crawled into what she guessed what was a kitchen at some point in time.

The Venus Eagle quirked its head from side to side, trying to adjust itself to the darkness and find its wounded prey. It stepped off the broken wood beneath its talons and onto the hard floor.

Hamuko rested her head against the kitchen's island, drawing in breaths that were quiet enough to not be heard, large enough to get oxygen flowing back in her blood stream, and slow enough to keep her fragile rib-cage in place. She could hear the Shadow's talons on the hardwood floor of the apartment and reached out with her left hand to try to find where the side of the island ended in the low light.

She froze when her hand knocked into something evidently metallic. She quickly realized she'd stumbled upon a toolbox who ever had last occupied this residence left behind at some point. The Shadow's footsteps ending directly behind where Hamuko was hiding.

She took a deep breath before throwing open the toolbox, uncaring of the horrible shriek it let out from the rusted hinges and grabbed the first thing she could.

The Venus Eagle leaped on top of the island and let out a shriek, only to get knocked off of it by Hamuko suddenly jumping up and smashing it in the face with a wrench. Her ribs ached as she vaulted over the island to land a kick on the Shadow, knocking it back onto the ground from where it was struggling to get up.

"What's the matter, huh?" Hamuko tauntingly spun the wrench in her hand, "Not a fan of blunt force trauma?"

The Shadow, seemingly responding to the jab, screeched back before the brunette lunged forward again and smashed the tool into its mask again. The Eagle desperately tried to bat the weapon away with one of its wings, only to be side-stepped and bashed again.

The two combatants backed away and eyed each other wearily, Hamuko nursing her ribs as the Shadow tried to shake off the recent counter.

The moon, a small sliver against the dark green night, seemingly flooded the room with light and Hamuko widened her eyes as she saw the damage she'd caused. The Eagle's mask had a large crack down the center of it, with several smaller cracks splintering outwards from it.

Gripping the wrench in both hands now, the two foes tensing before they lunged. The brunette leaned under the Eagle's talons and slammed the wrench, widening the crack once again.

Hamuko instinctively backed up when she heard the attack hit, and with good reason: the entire head of the wrench snapped off. Discarding the scrap metal, she jumped and ducked backwards as the Shadow took again to the air and pressed its advantage. Rolling past a close fly-by, Hamuko pushed herself to get back out into the corridor when she'd at least have a weapon to keep the Eagle's sharp claws away from her throat.

The Shadow gave chase and Hamuko slid on her knees out the doorway as it flew overhead. Grabbing back her dropped naginata, the brunette tensed herself as the Eagle slowly circled around the room it previously destroyed.

It gave one final shriek and she steadied herself.

Steel met claw as the Shadow effectively impaled itself on the edge of the pole arm. Black ichor dripped down the blade and Hamuko flung the dissolving carcass to the side.

Grabbing her ribs in her right hand and leaning her naginata against her left shoulder, the brunette started to retrace her steps back to where she knew a certain Shadow had her gear.

(pause track)

Hamuko mused that she must have dozed off or something as she quickly found herself back at the broken side of the building she'd entered from.

While there was no obvious sign of her rut sack or the wounded Shadow, the streaks of ichor rising slowly off the floor told Hamuko more than she needed to know. Following them, she led herself to a half-open doorway to a smaller apartment than before.

* * *

"Be gone!" Mitsuru pierced the mask of the eagle-like Shadow with her rapier, carefully drawing it back out to not damage the weapon as it dissolved into nothingness. The new Shadow had been tough at first, but a combination of Caesar's abilities and Artemisia's ice skills had severally debilitated the flier.

Sheathing her weapon away, the red-head walked back to the barricade and easily crossed over it. Akihiko had already joined Yukari in standing by the building their new arrival had apparently crashed into and were waiting for her to eventually exit.

"What happened that she's taking this long?" Yukari mused out loud.

Akihiko shrugged, something that made the thick duster he was wearing over a set of body armor move in its entirety, "She should be okay, right? You saw how powerful her Personae were last night right?"

"Have you heard of any Personae being summoned from that building, Yukari?" Mitsuru joined into the conversation.

The archer just shook her head sadly, "I heard a bit of a scuffle earlier, but it's been quiet since then".

"Come on people! Get back to your shelters already!" Shinjiro was nearby, trying to get the few curious people still lingering around to get back to safety so he could meet up with the rest of the team.

"We're going to need to investigate that building" Mitsuru started to the boxer and the archer, "We'll wait until Shinjiro fi-"

(resume track)

Mitsuru was cut off as a window in the building shattered and a dark mass flew out of it. The mass hit a nearby trash dumpster before rolling onto the street.

Yukari gasped when she realized that it was Hamuko grappling with the Eagle she'd shot out of the air previously.

Hamuko pinned the stubborn Shadow's wings beneath her knees before reaching for her naginata. Grabbing it in both hand, the brunette wasted no time burying the pole arm in the Eagle's mask.

She stumbled off the dissolving carcass, still favoring her right side, and moved to use her naginata to help her stand.

Raising her head back up, Hamuko saw a small crowd of people staring back at her.

* * *

**A/N: So this is going to be the last update for a good bit as I've got to go back to working on The Journey of Two. Regardless, let me know how this chapter turned out. I tried to go for a more 'horror'-y feel to the fight scene, but I'm not very experience in that area so let me know if you have a suggestion to make it better.**

**Until next time.**


	4. AI CIV: Bridges Once Burned

**A/N: Thank you bass30655, ChaosSerpent13, Cstan, and elo lexia for your support.**

* * *

Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned

Chapter 4: Bridges Once Burned

* * *

(Track 2)

"Gah… AHH!"

Hamuko bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she fell to her knees. The steel naginata clattered uselessly to the floor beside her, hands grasping her battered ribs.

"Hamuko-san!" Yukari rushed ahead of the others, stopping next to the wounded teen and immediately placed a hand against the brunette's stomach.

Wincing from the pain brought on by a second source of pressure, Hamuko smiled despite the small line of blood traveling down her face, "H-hey, I hope you're not mad at me for 'taking off' earlier".

Yukari shot her a dark look and adjusted her hand in a way that was just slightly more forceful than necessary. Hamuko fought between laughing and gasping from the sudden action.

"Well Yukari" Mitsuru walked over as Akihiko helped Shinjiro get the crowd back into their shelters, "How does she look?"

Moving her hand again to the opposite side of Hamuko's torso, Yukari sighed before getting back to her feet, "She'll live. She's got two ribs that have been pretty thoroughly cracked, one completely broken, several fractures and a lot of bruises. I'm more surprised that this is all the injuries she's sustained, Mitsuru. We'll need to get her back to base for me to work on her, though".

Mitsuru simply nodded before turning to inform Akihiko and Shinjiro about the situation as Yukari threw one of Hamuko's arms over her shoulder and got her to her feet.

* * *

After a thankfully uneventful walk back to the underground bunker, Hamuko was more than thankful when Yukari helped her lie down on their futon after she'd helped her with her jacket. She was surprised when Yukari rolled the bottom of her tank top up to reveal her mostly black and blue torso.

"W-What are you doing?" If she hadn't noticed that Yukari's hands were lightly glowing as they roved over her ribs Hamuko would have made a comment about how forward the brunette was being.

Yukari frowned slightly before responding, "I'm checking to see if I missed any injuries when I first checked. I'm not sure if I should be thankfully that I didn't miss anything, though".

Before Hamuko could respond, the white curtain was pulled aside and the regal-looking redhead stepped inside. Pulling the curtain closed again, Mitsuru spoke up, "Quite interesting, isn't it? Yukari here is our team's primary field medic. Akihiko and I can also heal, but we lack the precision that she has as well as the ability to diagnose internal injuries".

Yukari reddened slightly after the compliment but an outside voice cut in, "Mitsuru, we were planning on talking to her tonight about the situation here. Is she _presentable_?"

Mitsuru looked back at the two brunettes, Hamuko simply shrugging in response while Yukari grabbed a spare blanket and covered her up. Moving her hands under the blanket, Hamuko sighed slightly when Yukari started to repair her ribcage.

(end music)

"Yes, father, you three can come in".

The curtain was pulled open one last time and left off to the side as the three males of the team entered, the combat gear of the younger two already removed.

The man with an eyepatch spoke first, "It's good to see you still alive. I got a brief summary of what transpired today from Mitsuru here and while I'm sure you'd just love to be badgered about you're reckless behavior, I think we can all agree that we'd rather try to figure out what happened and move on from there".

"Tch, I can tell you what happened," Shinjiro spoke up with a deep scowl, "Some dumb little shit decided he wanted to act out his teenage rebel side and jumped one of the barricades".

Akihiko sighed slightly before smacking his friend upside the head, "Watch your mouth, Shinji".

"I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that," Hamuko cut in, wincing as Yukari snapped a rib back into place, "When I caught up to the guy, he was being effected by _something_. It didn't look like he could see me even though I was directly in front of him; hell, I'm going to take a wild guess and say he probably has no memory of what happened, does he?"

Shinjiro shook his head, "Not even the damn beans and rice he ate this morning".

Hamuko pursed her lips before responding, "He did mention a 'Morpheus' once; along with hearing 'him call to him'".

"'Morpheus' ring any bells with anyone?" Akihiko asked the group, continuing when no one responded, "Well, it's probably a kind of Shadow, right?"

"We'd be lucky if that's just the case" Hamuko paused to think, "Considering the name, if it is just a Shadow it'll be an extraordinary one. What's more likely is that it's a Persona or sorts, if not something far more unsavory".

"So you're saying that there's a chance that there could be something _other_ than a Shadow or Persona behind this" Mitsuru asked, her eyebrow rose skeptically.

(Track 3)

"Don't make me laugh," Hamuko grit her teeth while responding, "We live in an apocalyptic wasteland and you think Shadows are the only things that go bump in the night anymore? There are monsters out there; some look the part and some look like humans. I would know, since I've killed some and I've got one within me".

"That's-"Akihiko cut himself off, speechless along with the rest of the group.

"Why are you all so surprised? You really think someone with hair the color of dead leaves and eyes the color of spilled blood is normal? Ms. Team Healer here said it herself: the fight today should have left me with far more injuries than I actually sustained. But I didn't, 'cause I've got a bit of help keeping my body held together" Hamuko nearly spat out.

Yukari frowned slightly, "Is that why I'm having such a hard time healing you? It's like your bones aren't a flexible as they should be".

(end music)

"Uh…" Caught off-guard by the bluntness of the statement, Hamuko sputtered.

"I think a better question, Ms. _Wild Card_, is why you're not healing yourself if you've got multiple Personae in the first place" Shinjiro snapped back at the brunette.

Hamuko let out a sigh as the last broken rib snapped back into place, "I wish I could, but I can't". She motioned over to her torn rut sack, "I'll show you, I need my catalyst from my bag first though".

Shinjiro walked over and opened the bag, eyes widening upon seeing its contents.

"Shinji" Akihiko walked over as well, "What's in the bag?"

The brunet reached down and pulled a large, black tome from the bag. "What the hell is _this_?"

"_That_ is a Compendium" Hamuko motioned with her hand, "Mind letting me have it?"

Shinjiro walked over and placed the oversized book into her outstretched hand. Hamuko made no motion for the tome to open but it quickly flipped open, stopping at a page and allowing a single blue card to float up from the page. Slamming it shut with little fanfare, a blue pentagram appeared with a small blue pixie flying out of it. It looked around the room before ending its eyes on Hamuko.

"Hey Pixie, do you mind showing these guys why I can't heal myself?"

Pixie gave her Summoner what seemed to be a sad smile before raising her arms upwards. A green and blue light poured out of the air and flowed over Hamuko's body like water passing by a rock.

As if to prove a point, Pixie repeated the attempted healing on Akihiko to the same effect.

"It's difficult to explain, but I don't seem to be capable of healing even if I can have it cast. I've just chalked it up to another side effect of my curse. Power comes at a very steep cost".

"I think we know that lesson all too well ourselves," The man with the eye patch started, "Ten years ago, the Kirijo Gro-".

"Father" Mitsuru interrupted, a stern look in her eyes, "Kouetsu Kirijo, the head of the Group at the time, led an experiment involving the collection of a massive amount of Shadows. We still don't know the motives behind the collection, but according to the last report we managed to get from the lab they were in the preparation stage for a 'test'. Father and I rushed here when we received the report, but we were too late. The lab exploded, and hell came to earth".

"Heh" Hamuko couldn't help her laugh, "I think your containment plan failed just a bit".

Mitsuru smiled wistfully back, "Then it's a good thing that we're no longer trying for containment".

"We're here to protect our fellow survivors and fight off Shadows," Akihiko said with a grin, "We tried to investigate the ruins of the lab about two years ago, but what little of it wasn't sealed off had been picked apart by scavengers".

The red-head nodded back at the silveret, thankful for his input, "I remember that. It certainly made that stunt you pulled all those years ago worth it, Father".

The older man sighed loudly.

Hamuko simply raised an eyebrow in question.

"It was only a month after the accident, but one day a certain _Takeharu Kirijio _decided to vanish without telling anyone where he was going. About a week later, he came back with an empty pistol, two briefcases full of equipment, and a backpack full of Evokers" Mitsuru explained, a thin smile on her face.

Takeharu rubbed his face, "Well, I'd say I would need to make another run for equipment, but I doubt the lab would have magically restocked itself in the last two years".

"The hell would we need more equipment for?" Shinjiro questioned.

The man motioned towards the desk with the complex radio situated on top of it, "The communication system is completely shot. I took a look at the antenna today and its practically falling apart. Not to mention all the innards were nearly fried when we were communicating with Kuzunoha-san last week".

Curiously enough, Hamuko noted, Mitsuru looked distinctly embarrassed by that last comment.

(Track 9)

"Regardless, we should all introduce ourselves," Takeharu turned back to face Hamuko, "My name is Takeharu Kirijo as you heard from my daughter, Mitsuru".

The red-head gave a small bow out of acknowledgement.

Akihiko stepped forward, "I'm Akihiko Sanada. Shinji here and I were living over in the Port Island slums before we ran into the Kirijos. We've been living here ever since".

"Tch," Shinjiro looked absolutely annoyed at what he was about to say, "Shinjiro Aragaki".

The brunette gave him a smug grin in return.

"And I'm Yukari Takeba" The room's other brunette spoke up, finally removing her hands from Hamuko's body as she finished healing, "… My dad was a scientist working for the Kirijo Group. He never said what project he was working on, but he disappeared a day before the accident happened. I'm hoping to figure out what happened to him, regardless of what that is".

Blood-red eyes bore back into the brown eyes of the speaker, no words exchanged between the two.

"Uh…"

Hamuko coughed and turned back to the group as Yukari awkwardly did the same, "We've already been introduced, but I'm Hamuko Shirogane. I'll be in your care. So…"

"You don't need to worry about formalities among us" Mitsuru responded quickly, "There's not much left of society anymore that they'd be of much use. Besides, it would be rather idiotic if being polite got in the way of vital information".

Akihiko and Shinjiro shuffled uncomfortably after the red-head finished speaking.

"That's not what I meant…" Hamuko tried to speak up again.

"You talkin' about that 'I'm a monster crap'?" Shinjiro roughly cut in.

Yukari's eyes hardened, "There's not many of them, but a good portion of the people living here have that sentiment against us. If I'm remembering correctly, you met three of them today at the mess hall".

"The three girls?" The brunette questioned, continuing when she received a nod, "I was about ready to draw my weapon from the looks they were giving me".

Shinjiro snickered at the comment, "I almost wish you did".

"I guess we should be glad _he's_ been keeping to himself lately" Akihiko stated, "But you're going to need to tell him about what happened today, Takeharu".

"Don't remind me"

* * *

21 Days until the Next Full Moon

* * *

(Track 2)

Hamuko entered the mess hall by herself, Yukari leaving her to go take care of something in the meantime. The brunette passed two of the girls on her way to pick a tray of the day's meager breakfast, listening in on their conversation out of pure habit.

"Heya Natsuki-chan, don't you think Miki is taking a bit long to meet up today?"

"Isn't she, like, the first of us usually here?"

"Yeah, but I haven't seen her at all today"

"Maybe she forgot to get up this morning? I know I would like to just sleep in, certain beats what we're going to have to do today"

"Ugh, don't remind me about garden duty today. I always hate doing that".

Hamuko gratefully received her tray from Shinjiro, thankful to have something else to focus on than two rather ungrateful girls complaining about things that were relatively trivial.

Sitting down at an empty table, she stirred her meal, beans and rice again, around her plate while deep in thought.

_Morpheus, Morpheus, Morpheus._

(end music)

* * *

**Omakes:**

**What happens when you get +10 to improvised weapons.**

* * *

She took a deep breath before throwing open the toolbox, uncaring of the horrible shriek it let out from the rusted hinges and grabbed the first thing she could.

The Venus Eagle leaped on top of the island and let out a shriek, only to get knocked off of it by Hamuko suddenly jumping up and smashing it in the face with a wrench. Her ribs ached as she vaulted over the island to land a kick on the Shadow, knocking it back onto the ground from where it was struggling to get up.

"It would be just an absolute _shame_…"

Hamuko blitzed forwards, wrench hitting home once again.

"…if someone…"

A spin to avoid a jab by its wing smoothly transitioned into another clean hit against its mask.

"…were to…"

Backing up a step gave her enough distance to grip the two in both hands and nearly crush the Venus Eagle in a mock Helm breaker.

"…hit you…"

Duck. Smash.

"…with a…"

Spin. Swipe. Crack.

"…_mother…"_

Parry. Elbow.

"…_FUCKING…"_

Backstep. Kick in the mask.

"…_WRENCH_..."

One last overhead.

"…_BITCH!"_

* * *

**Wrong kind of catalyst**

* * *

"I think a better question, Ms. _Wild Card_, is why you're not healing yourself if you've got multiple Personae in the first place" Shinjiro snapped back at the brunette.

Hamuko let out a sigh as the last broken rib snapped back into place, "I wish I could, but I can't". She motioned over to her torn rut sack, "I'll show you, I need my catalyst from my bag first though".

Shinjiro walked over and opened the bag, a blush spreading across his cheeks upon seeing its contents.

"Shinji" Akihiko walked over as well, "What's in the bag?"

"… Panties?"

…

…

"…What?! That's my change of clothed!" Hamuko was practically livid, "The _tome_, you moron, THE TOME!"

* * *

**A/N: Those Omakes were possible scenes that I took out as they broke the mood of their respective scenes. I'll be including more of them, unless someone is really against them, if I think of any other kind of 'outtake' ideas.**

**Anyways, this chapter had a fair bit of world building and explanation for the circumstances our mock-SEES is working under in this AU. Sadly, no fight scene :(**

**Moving on, this should offer an reason for why Akihiko and Mitsuru have their ultimate Personae already. For Mitsuru, this AU is a bit of a blessing in disguise. The world that heavily discriminated against her purely for being a woman is gone and replaced with one that is in desperate need of her skills. Coupled with the fact that she is in constant contact with her father and that she doesn't need to hide her true strengths, Mitsuru is more focused on being team's leader rather than supervisor; something that I believe she finally realizes when she achieves resolution in P3's canon.**

**For Akihiko (and I suppose this applies to Shinjiro as well), Miki still has died as the accident involving her death takes place before the creation of the Dark Hour. However, Akihiko is forced to see that he can't focus on the past in a world that constantly demands he defend those that are still alive.**

**And for the record, Shinjiro has not killed Ken's mother in this timeline.**


	5. AI CV: Supplies and Demands

**A/N: ****Hello readers, I'm happy to announce that P3: Apocalypse now has an accompanying soundtrack. Please note that this is not an OST, but rather a playlist on youtube of pre-existing OST's. If you wish to listen to the playlist, you can either check my FF profile and look under the section I have on this fic or you can look up "Persona 3: Apocalypse Act I Soundtrack" on youtube manually. I'll also post what tracks go with what kind of theme on my profile as they become apparent/won't cause spoilers.**

**Now, as for how this will work in the fic itself, while reading you will find text such as: **(Track 1)**. This correlates to the 1st track in the playlist, in this case ****Killing Floor 2 - Menu Music [Extended]****. Following, if **(Track 6)** is shown, it'll correlate to the 6th track in the playlist**. **Please note that **(end music) **and **(pause track) **both mean to pause the music, just that the latter implies that the track will resume at some point soon****.**

**On another note, I decided to bump this story down from a M rating to a T rating. Now, there will still be some rather M rated parts of this story. However, since there will be relatively few of those chapters, I will simply post a disclaimer in the A/N stating that this chapter should be taken as an 'M' rated chapter.**

**This chapter, for reference, is a T rated chapter.**

* * *

Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned

Chapter 5: Supplies and Demands

* * *

(Track 2)

With a semi-full stomach, Hamuko walked back out of the mess hall and into the dull, black sunlight. People passed her by as they moved towards their destination, most giving her a wide berth or a stare. Normally, she'd account their reaction to the naginata strapped to her back or her general appearance, but after the events of the previous night she had a much better idea of what was drawing their attention.

The crowd thinned as they settled into their routine for the day, revealing Yukari walking towards her. They were both dressed in their combat attire, sans her rut sack that had been damaged. Considering the situation she'd been in the previous evening, Hamuko strapped her survival knife to the rigging that held her naginata against her back.

Yukari had mentioned that they weren't going to be on patrol today, so the brunette was semi-curious as to why they were still carrying; not that she was complaining much about the arrangement.

"Hey Yukari" Hamuko walked forward to meet the bow-woman, smiling softly.

She motioned for the red-eyed teen to follow her before responding, "'Morning, Hamuko. How're your ribs feeling now?"

Giving her stomach an appreciative pat, the naginata user spoke back up, "Much better, and it's all thanks to you! It usually takes a lot longer for me to recover from those kinds of wounds".

Biting her bottom lip, Yukari refrained from asked why exactly it took so much more effort to heal her body.

"So, where are we going today?"

The brunette jumped slightly at the sudden inquiry, before stopping and pointing to the building in front of them. "Well, today we're both on 'class' duty"

Hamuko's jaw dropped slightly, "You guys have a school set up here?"

Giggling, Yukari waved off her fellow brunette before responding, "No, no. That's just the nickname we gave it since there's three teachers running it. It's mostly just a way of keeping us teenagers busy during the day. C'mon, they've already started work for the day".

Following her lead, Hamuko entered into the old building, one that showed obvious amounts of repair and patchwork.

"Ah, Toriumi-san, we're back now".

* * *

"3000 cans of beans?"

"Uh… 20 by… 10 by… 5, 10, 15. Yep that's 3000 cans of beans. Holy crap, did you guys raid a baked bean warehouse or something?"

Yukari looked slightly abash as she answered, "Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"Yeah, I really, really, would".

"That reminds me, how are you doing on your fresh water canteen?"

Tapping her chin in thought, Hamuko responded, "Hmm, maybe a third or so left? I've been rationing it pretty hard".

"Good, we've got a well a few miles outside the city limits that we stock up at during the New Moon".

"Smart idea, wouldn't want to accidentally have your entire water supply turn into blood because you let a slip of moonlight hit it".

"That's the idea. Alright, next on the check list is rice bags. Apparently we have 1450 bags".

"Ugh… 5, 10 by…"

* * *

"Alright!" Yukari was much more enthusiastic than her counterpart, "We are done for the day!"

"So much rice…"

(End track)

The two brunettes walked down the street as the red sun began to set in the sky. Shortly behind them, three teenage girls walked out of the 'class' building.

"And so, I was like… Hey, Maki!"

"Huh?"

"Maki you've been zonin' out on us all day".

"Yeah, and you, like, seriously overslept. Are you sure you're not sick"

"No… I'm fine. I'll be just fine".

* * *

(Track 1)

Several hours after the sun set, and the shrinking moon appeared in the green sky, two groups of people entered an abandoned warehouse. Meeting in the center of the room where a beam of moonlight illumined them, the two gang leaders met.

"Thank you for coming out tonight".

The two men shook hands as their guards clicked on safeties and sheathed melee weapons.

"I'd thank ya too, but I think we'd both rather get down to business".

"Smart man. We've only got about a month's left of supplies before we fully run out".

"I've got a similar thing goin' on my end".

"At this rate, we're not going to be surviving for much longer".

"The pickin's are almost completely gone from Port Island".

"And we can't leave because of that Raven motherfucker".

"I'd say we team up and put him six feet 'nder, be we both saw what he did to those guys way back when".

"Wouldn't it just be absolutely _grand_ if I could solve both of your problems with a single plan?"

(Track 13)

Both gangs' weapons were quickly drawn and pointed at the door that had just been opened.

"Oh, don't shoot the messenger now, not while I'm still offering".

"Who are you" One of the leaders spoke up.

The dark figure chuckled slightly before speaking again, "I'm just a man with a deal for you both. An absolute _bargain_ in fact, two for the price of one: a very dead little bird and control over all of Tatsumi Port Island".

The two leaders looked at each other before the second one responded, "We're listenin'"

"Well that's just _grand_" The figure stepped slightly out of the shadows, revealing his golden eyes. "But first, have you heard of our lord and savior, Nyx-sama?"

* * *

Only a minute before the silent stroke of midnight, a lone inhabitant of Iwatodai Proper was roused from her sleep.

"Morpheus…?"

Another silent call, another whisper in her ear.

"I'm coming…" She removed her covers and shakily made her way to the door.

"Wait for me, Morpheus".

* * *

20 Days until the Next Full Moon

* * *

**A/N: So, that's all for this chapter. I know, I know, its short, but it is the best place to stop for this particular point in the story. The next update should be longer, so keep an eye out for that.**


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